february 22

A few weeks ago, I shared with you my six reasons the Oscars will probably stink this year. Now I have another reason to add to the list. Peter Gabriel has dropped out of the broadcast in protest. Gabriel, who collaborated with Thomas Newman on the song "Down To Earth" from WALL-E, had been slated to perform the song during the February 22 airing on ABC. However, when the producers told Gabriel that his performance had be compressed to 65 seconds and fit into a medley of all the best song nominations, Peter opted out.

Our friends at AOL TV just passed us a press release from FOX saying that The O.C. will air its season finale on February 22nd.

"The O.C. Season Four finale will also be the series finale. This feels like the best time to bring the show to its close," said creator Josh Schwartz in the press release. New episodes will air starting tomorrow, January 4, and run all the way until the finale. No word on what will happen during the finale, but I'd imagine that there will be a lot of goofiness and young nubile people having relations.

This wasn't unexpected, because ratings for the show were dismal last year, and FOX only picked up the show for 16 episodes this year. Despite a return to the tone and humor that the show had in its earlier seasons, ratings didn't improve, so it became a goner. Also, NBC's pickup of Schwartz's pilot Chuck might have contributed to both parties' decision to end the show.